Slovak PM no longer in immediate danger, condition serious: deputy
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Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico remains in serious condition and still faces risks of complications.
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Chairman of SMER-Social Democracy party Robert Fico arrives at his party's headquarters in Bratislava, Slovakia, on October 1, 2023. (AP)
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is no longer in danger but is still in serious condition, his deputy said on Sunday, four days after an assassination attempt.
"We are all a little calmer," Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak spoke to a news conference outside the hospital where Fico is being treated in the central Slovak town of Banska Bystrica.
On Wednesday, the 59-year-old prime minister was struck by four bullets in an attack that heightened concerns about the polarized political climate in the central European nation of 5.4 million people.
Kalinak informed journalists that Fico's condition remained too serious to consider moving him to a hospital in the capital, though the immediate worst fears had subsided.
He said, "When we were saying that we want to get closer to a positive prognosis, then I believe that we are a step closer to that," adding that "The prime minister has stepped away from his life being in danger, but his condition remains serious and requires intensive care."
According to the Pravda news agency, Fico suffered an injury after he was shot at the location of the government's field meeting on Wednesday, and the assailant was captured. The assailant fired five times before police apprehended him, Pravda reported.
